Providing information, education, and training to build knowledge, develop skills, and change attitudes that will lead to increased independence, productivity, self determination, integration and inclusion (IPSII) for people with developmental disabilities and their families.

SHEBOYGAN,
WISCONSIN--Sunday night, Jamie Hanson lost her 100-year-old home, a cat, and
her service dog, Jesse.

She does have her life, thanks to Jesse, her 13-year-old Labrador
retriever and German shepherd mix.

Hanson, 49, told reporters at a tearful news conference Monday that she
was watching TV when one of her cats jumped onto a table and knocked over a
candle, which set some artificial plants on fire.

That's when Jesse brought Hanson the prosthetic leg she has worn since a
car accident three years ago, and a phone to call 9-1-1. When the leg proved
too hot to touch, Jesse started pulling Hanson by the pajamas toward the door.

Once Hanson was outside, Jesse ran back inside, apparently to rescue a
cat.

That was the last she saw of the dog and that cat. The cat that
inadvertently started the fire was found, alive, in the basement of the house,
which was totally destroyed.

"She kind of took over as my caretaker," Hanson said of Jesse. "She
would bring me drinks out of the refrigerator or a snack if I needed it. When I
went to take a bath, she always brought the phone in and sat by the bathtub
with me in case I fell."

Hanson was released from a local hospital after being treated for burns
to her face and arm.

The GCDD is funded under the provisions of P.L. 106-402. The federal law also provides funding to the Minnesota Disability Law Center,the state Protection and Advocacy System, and to the Institute on Community Integration, the state University Center for Excellence. The Minnesota network of programs works to increase the IPSII of people with developmental disabilities and families into community life.